Frank Seravalli

Daily News Staff Writer

As early as Wednesday at noon. The Flyers put Leighton on re-entry waivers on Tuesday at noon, giving 29 other clubs a crack at him for half of his $1.55 million salary. The Flyers would be required to pay the other half. Leighton still has one year remaining on his deal that he signed last summer, after the Flyers bowed out of the Stanley Cup Finals.

The Flyers would like to have Leighton available for the playoffs if need be, and re-calling him now - as opposed to when there is an injury - would make it easier to have him on the roster.

If the Flyers had an injury in the playoffs, teams - even those not even participating in the playoffs - would be more likely to place a claim to put the Flyers in a tough spot.

Leighton, 29, has helped carry the Phantoms out of last place in the AHL. He has posted a 14-12-2 record with a 2.22 goals against-average and .926 save percentage.

Leighton has 5 shutouts this season - including back-to-back shutouts in the last 2 games - which gives him 5 more shutouts than the Flyers’ entire team. Leighton even posted 3 shutouts in the postseason last year for the Flyers, where he also had a 8-3 record.

Even though any team can claim Leighton, they would not be able to use him in the playoffs this season since he was not on their 50-man roster by the Feb. 28 trade deadline.

SLAP SHOTS: The Flyers can clinch their first Atlantic division title tonight since 2004 with any kind of win and any Pittsburgh non-win ... Sergei Bobrovsky will start for the Flyers tonight against last place Ottawa. We made a case in today's paper for why Bobrovsky should be one of the three Calder Trophy finalists for Rookie of the Year ... Blair Betts, Danny Briere and Nick Boynton did not make the trip with the Flyers to Ottawa. That means Ben Holmstrom, Andreas Nodl and Danny Syvret will be in the lineup ... Jody Shelley is on the trip but has not been cleared yet to return from a fractured orbital surgery.